The precise history of Holt High School is not known by many of those who attend it. From rumors of a forgotten swimming pool, to assumptions that the school has always been where it is now, there are a lot of secrets regarding Holt’s history.

According to Wikipedia, “Wentzville Holt High School (Emil E. Holt Sr. High School, or simply Holt High School) is the oldest of the three high schools in the Wentzville R-IV School District and second oldest high school in St. Charles County, Missouri…”. The school is not actually named “Holt”; rather, it is just a nickname for it’s full name: Emil E. Holt Sr, High School. It was dubbed as “Holt” in preparation for the second addition to the school district in 2000. 

The original school building was the Green Lantern Senior Center in Wentzville. It was founded as a two-year high school, which was proper education per the time that it was built, which was 1896. The first principal’s name was J. Herring. The first graduating class was in 1898, which was made up of three students: Pearl Marsch, Pearl Ball, and Emma Dula. 

Although the school continued to succeed, it burned down in 1904. But it was then rebuilt, and continued to be used as a high school. According to the site, “The high school building was expanded in 1938, and in 1939 it was reorganized as a full 4-year high school under the authority of a school board with state recognition. As Wentzville High School grew in enrollment, a new high school building on Campus Drive was built in 1962. In 1969, the high school was officially named after Emil E. Holt, who had served as treasurer of the school district for 42 years and board member for four years before that. In 1975 the current high school building was constructed at 600 Campus Drive, and the junior high students were separated from the high school and remained in the 1962 building that now houses Wentzville Middle School.” 

Although the turf of the Soby field is fairly new, the football field itself dates back to when Holt was originally built. The “Soby” field was given its name by Missouri State Highway Patrol sergeant Herbert L. Sobolewski. He had died because of a heart attack while directing traffic at a crash site. The name of Soby field is a memorial to him.

Even though Holt’s history is hard to find, and not acknowledged, it still is a huge part of Wentzville and our school district today. As the oldest school in the district, we set an example for the other schools. We must embrace our history, acknowledge our old roots… 

And create new branches.